Flag-burning ceremony Wednesday at the Wellsville Rod & Gun Club

Tuesday

Jun 13, 2017 at 3:17 PMJun 13, 2017 at 3:17 PM

By Kathryn RossDaily Reporter

WELLSVILLE — “I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is Old Glory. I fly atop the world’s tallest buildings, I stand watch in America’s halls of justice. I fly majestically over institutions of learning. I stand guard with power in the world. Look up and see me,” were the words that opened the 2016 flag retirement ceremony.

This year, once again, the public is urged to dispose of its old and tattered flags at the annual ceremony being hosted by the American Legion at the Wellsville Rod and Gun Club, Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The ceremony will be more than just the burning of old American flags, Skip Merrick told the crowd recently gathered for a Genesee Valley Chorus concert.

“The chorus will be singing and it will be a very nice ceremony,” he said, inviting the public to attend the ceremony.

According to Legion Commander Brent Roberts, while no one recalls when the American Legion started the flag burning program, each year for the last several years the event has grown.

Last year members of the Andover and Belmont legions were invited to the ceremony along with the public, nearly 90 people were present, along with two dozen members of the Legion Riders.

The ceremony will start with the Legion Riders (motorcycle group) escorting the bags and bundles of flags to the site to be burned.

It is the second year the ceremony, which has taken place longer than anyone could remember, has been held at the Rod and Gun Club.

Roberts said the flags are a year’s accumulation.

“People bring their old flags to be disposed of year-round,” he said.

The worn-out flags were placed on a three-tiered flaming rack to be disposed of in accordance with flag etiquette.

According to the United States Flag Code, while an American flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary, when a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.

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